6. Wear a lanyard

On our most recent trip, we bought a 6 pack of lanyards online for about 10 bucks (they are really expensive at the parks!) and used these to store my credit card, ID, my ticket, and my early admission pass. If you don’t plan on drinking, you can leave the ID at home too. So convenient: I will never be without it again. I loved not bringing with my wallet/purse and not scanning my phone all day and worrying about it dying. They come in all sorts of fun colors and are waterproof.

Convenient lanyards for Universal Studios
A bit hard to see in this photo, but the basic look of the lanyards.

7. Book a hotel with a shuttle to the park, or one located within walking distance

Shuttle bus for Universal resorts

Many hotels offer free, convenient shuttles to the parks. This saves you not only time, but also the high costs associated with renting a car (price per day of car, gas, etc.) along with hefty $30+ parking fees. In addition to the on-site resorts, many Partner hotels are located within walking distance (Doubletree, Hyatt Place, & Holiday Inn & Suites to name a few).

Doubletree Hotel at the Entrance to Universal Studios, the closest hotel to the park, is a fantastic option. Not only is it located only a half mile away, but you can also book a room with fabulous views of the park. We stayed here a few years back and enjoyed the amenities, although I still prefer the amazing pools at the on-site resorts. Other amenities include 2 pools, several restaurants, cookies at check in, and an on-site Starbucks. You really can’t beat the amenities for the price.

Cabana Bay is another nice choice, offering a free shuttle and numerous amenities (lazy river, a cafeteria style restaurant, on-site Starbucks, bowling alley, and 2 great pools!).

Lazy river at Universal's Cabana Bay resort
Fantastic pool at Universal's Cabana Bay

8. Bring with a full bottle of sunblock & sunglasses

I recommend a full bottle to split amongst everyone in your party. The sun is intense in Florida and there really isn’t much shade on many of the queues. A majority of the queues are located directly in the sun, so lather up or you might be lying in bed the next instead of having fun at the park! My sunblock of choice is Coppertone Pure & Simple SPF 50. I’ve never had a burn from it and it is rated pretty good in terms of EWG’s list of safer sunscreens. Find it at Walmart, Target, or CVS.

Sunglasses are also a must due to Orlando’s sunny climate. As an added bonus, they prevent you from having that squinty eye look in photos. I recommend picking up a cheap pair at a Walmart or dollar store. That way it doesn’t really matter if they break or get lost. Funnily enough, all my cheap sunglasses last forever. As long as they block the sun, I don’t really care how fashionable they are.

The parks seem to get busier by the year even though prices keep going on. You can save a lot of time and get on more rides by riding as a single rider. While water rides and some motion simulators can be more fun with a group, I don’t mind going on coasters separately to avoid a lengthy wait. On a recent rip, we saved about an hour on the Hagrid Motorbike riding single.

Also, Epic Universe is crazy right now. I’ve heard many people only get on 1-2 rides all day! When we arrived at the park at opening, the Ministry already had a 5 hour wait, plus tech delays. We tried to get on this ride many times, but it was delayed adding to the frustration. Later in the evening, we finally got on the single rider line (it’s closed much of the day), and enjoyed a 45 min wait.

10. Bring an extra pair of contacts and/or glasses

After 10 hours at the park, I was more than ready to ditch the contacts and change into eyeglasses to give my sore, tired eyes a much needed break. You may also want to bring an extra pair of disposable contacts just in case they get foggy, dirty from sunblock, or you lose one during a water ride.

On a side note, my sister’s glasses actually melted in the sun! I recommend wearing contacts during the sunniest part of the day and maybe switching into glasses when the sun goes down. You can always buy clip ons to put over your glasses as well.